The two sides met in a Toronto hotel for the formal exchange of proposals for negotiations that Unifor president Jerry Dias has described as critical for the future of Canada’s auto industry.

The GM negotiating team included company CEO Steve Carlisle, who has repeatedly said that any decisions on future investment in the carmaker’s Oshawa plant would hinge on the outcome of the negotiations.

In a statement issued Wednesday, GM said future investment also depended on “other partners, such as government, suppliers and our communities.”

The Oshawa plant employs about 2,500 hourly workers and has been cited by the union as a strike issue. Dias has said he was prepared to call a strike unless GM makes a firm commitment to invest in the Oshawa facility.

Following the meeting, GM spokesman Dave Paterson used a hockey analogy to illustrate what the two sides needed to do to reach a deal.

“We are looking to find an agreement that is mutually beneficial and is also enabling to ensure competitiveness in Canada,” Paterson told reporters. “Generally, it feels like we’re just coming into the third period with respect to playing for competitiveness and for investment. We need everyone on the ice to win, and we can’t have people leaving the ice if we’re going to continue to win, so we want to continue working together even if it means going into extra periods.”

The current four-year contract expires Sept. 19. Dias is expected to announce on Sept. 6 the strike target — the automaker that will set the pattern for agreements for hourly workers at GM, Ford and FCA Canada.

At a news conference following the GM meeting, Dias repeated his vow that there would be no deal unless the automaker guarantees new investment and product commitments at the Oshawa plant.

Jerry Dias, president of Unifor, the Canadian Auto Workers Union, speaks at a press conference after meeting with General Motors Canada in Toronto on Aug. 10, 2016.Aaron Vincent Elkaim /
THE CANADIAN PRESS

While he downplayed the threat of a strike, Dias said a work stoppage in Oshawa and St. Catharines would affect production at a number of GM plants in the U.S. as well as its Ingersoll facility, which builds the popular Chevy Equinox SUV.

“The engine plant supplies nine plants in the United States, including CAMI,” he said. “It would have a huge impact on the Arlington plant that makes the Escalade, which is a high-profit vehicle for General Motors.

“We hope we won’t have to go there to be candid,” he added. “We hope calmer heads will prevail; we hope that General Motors respects the commitment that our members have made over the years. We hope GM remembers that when they were on their heels in 2008, 2009 and almost in bankruptcy, that the Canadian and provincial governments gave them $10.8 billion in order to survive at the same time the Mexican government never gave them a dime.”

GM’s string of record profits means the union will seek wage and benefit increases for workers who have haven’t had an annual pay hike in almost a decade,” said Dias.

“We are expecting some increases for our members who absolutely deserve it.”

However, increasing labour costs at Canadian plants could ultimately backfire on a union that has made preserving the Detroit Three’s manufacturing footprint its top priority, warned Joe McCabe, president of AutoForecast Solutions.

“Focusing on future product programs is the best place for them,” said McCabe, who sounded the alarm over the future of the Oshawa plant two years ago when he released a report showing it could close its doors by 2019.

Members of Unifor, the Canadian Auto Workers Union, are seen before a meeting with General Motors Canada in Toronto on Aug.10, 2016.Aaron Vincent Elkaim /
THE CANADIAN PRESS

The vehicles assembled at Oshawa, which consists of the consolidated and flex lines, will or can be built at other GM plants in the United States and Mexico, which has attracted the bulk of greenfield auto investment in North America, said McCabe.

While labour costs are a key factor in future product decisions, both union and management called on the federal and Ontario governments to implement policies that facilitate investment by carmakers.

“We need to keep in mind that auto investment decisions are never made without examining a wide range of factors,” Carlisle said in a statement. “That includes shifting market trends, macro-economic factors, capacity utilization across all our facilities, local costs for utilities, materials, supplier inputs, public policy supports and costs and much more.

“While labour costs account for about seven per cent of our total costs, crafting a positive labour agreement can signal that we wish to put our best foot forward and stay in the game”

On Thursday, Unifor will meet with negotiators at Ford and Fiat Chrysler. Unifor is seeking investment commitments for Ford’s two engine plants in Windsor and FCA’s assembly plant in Brampton.

“If we walk out of 2016 negotiations without commitments for Oshawa, Brampton and Windsor, we are looking at the death of the auto industry in Canada,” said Dias. “We are absolutely committed that’s not going to happen.”

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.